alphabetical index of plant families and groups - Sunrise Versand

Sarsaparilla
As with many plants and common names, there is some confusion as to what is
really what. In this case sarsaparilla is causing the confusion. It often recalls the
imagery of the Wild West of the rugged ranch hand bellying up to the saloon
bar and hailing the bartender for a foaming sarsaparilla. What actually is that
sarsaparilla? Is it from Aralia species or from Smilax species? In fact, it is from
neither. The United States Department of Agriculture, Food And Drug Administration,
New and Revised Definitions and Standards for Food Products [1931]
mandates that sarsaparilla flavour be made from oil of sassafras [see Laurales –
Sassafras] and methyl salicylate or oil of wintergreen or oil of sweet birch. This
seems to indicate that the botanical name sarsaparilla and the flavouring named
sarsaparilla are two entirely different things. Just to confound things even further,
the flavour that was called sarsaparilla is not generally available any longer under
that name. It is simply not heard of anymore. There are exceptions, however.
Australians can still drink sarsaparilla-flavoured soft drinks and in Taiwan it is
not all too difficult to find HeySong Sarsaparilla soda. Though the name is a dead
end, the same old-time sarsaparilla flavour is still very much alive, having reinvented
itself as Root Beer.
Main Constituents
� Triterpene saponins – lipophilic steroid-like compounds, such as aralosides in
Aralia, ginsenosides or panaxosides in Panax, eleutherosides in Eleutherococcus
and hederacosides in Hedera.
Pharmacological Activities
Historically, the triterpene saponins in this family have been claimed to exert a
strengthening effect and to raise physical and mental capacity for work. These
properties are defined with the term adaptogenic, involving a non-specific
increase in resistance to the noxious effects of physical, chemical, biological or
emotional stress. A less scientific sounding term could be ‘stress busters’.
Herbs of this family are thought to help support adrenal gland function when
the body is challenged by stress, helping it adapt to any situation that would alter
its normal function. They are thought to help reduce the exhaustion phase of
the stress response and return the adrenals to normal function faster. Triterpenes
are also known to bind to steroid hormone receptors.
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis
Pharmacologically, the centre of activity of Araliaceae appears to be the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal
axis, called the HPA. The HPA is a complex set of direct
influences and feedback interactions among the hypothalamus, the pituitary
gland and the adrenal glands. As a major part of the neuro-endocrine system, the
HPA axis regulates many body processes, including digestion, the immune
system, mood and emotions, sexuality and energy storage and expenditure.
Furthermore, it is the common mechanism for interactions among glands,
hormones and parts of the midbrain that mediate the general adaptation
syndrome. It is through the regulation of all these body systems that the HPA
© Saltire Books Ltd
486 Family ARALIACEAE